Knitting-machine needle.



No. 743,152. PATENTED NOV. 3,1903.

A. GURR-IER.

KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE.

APPLIOATION FILED we. 2e. 19o1.

N0 MODEL.

wnaesses':

4 KW -m UNITED STATES :Patented November 3, 1903".

PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR CURRIER, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR IO DODGE NEEDLECOMPANY, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

KNITTING-MACHINE NEEDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of l etters Patent No. 743,152, datedNovember 3, 1903. Application filed August 26, 1901. Serial No. 73 ,378.(No model.)

To all whom it may concern;-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR OURE1ER,a citizen of the United States,residing at Manchester, in the county of Hillsboro and State of NewHampshire,have invented an Improvement in Knitting-Machine Needles, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like numerals on the drawings representinglike parts.

Needles for knittingmachines are commonly made by providing the body ofthe needle with a slot in which the end of the latch is pivoted, apivot-pin being passed for this purpose and being headed'over at itsends to retain it in place. One objection to this construction is thatit is very diflicult to spread or head over the end of the pivotpin, soas not to leave a slight bur or roughness which will catch on the fiberof the yarn andinjurethesame. Variousexpedientshave been resorted to tocure this objection, one of them being to insert the pivot-pin into adrilled hole in the body of the needle, said pivot-pin passing throughthe usual eye in the end of the latch and being shorter than the widthof the body of the needle, whereby the ends of pivot-pin are below thesurrounding surface of the side walls of the needle. pivot-pin in place,the body of the needle was swaged or upset, so that portions thereofwere displaced to partially close the drilled hole therein, thedisplaced metal overlapping the ends of the pivot-pin and operating tortetain it in place. This manner of securing the pivot-pin in place,however, has not been entirely successful, because it isextrelnely:

difficult to locate a pivot-pin centrally in the needle-body, so thatits opposite ends are supported uniformly in the body of the needle,: asis necessary to make a perfect needle.

Moreover, difficulty has been experienced in making the countersinks inthe opposite sides of the needle of uniform depth, this difficultyarising from the fact that the walls of the needle are very thin and thepivot-pin is apt to have its ends extended unequally into the body ofthe needle. lthas also been proposed to secure the pivot-pin in place byfirst making a comparatively deep counter- To hold the sink in the sidewalls of the needle and heading over the ends of the pivot-pin into saidcountersink in such a way that the edges of the heads on the pivot-pinare below the surrounding surface of the side walls of the needle. Thisform of needle, however, is objectionable, because the making of thecomparatively large countersinks in the side Walls thereof materiallyweakens the needle at the very point where the most strain comes thereonand where the needle needs to be the strongest. Moreover, experience hasdemonstrated that even though when the needle is first made according tothis method the head of the pivot-pin is carried below the side walls ofthe needle; yet after the needle has been in use some time the pivotinvariably works loose and the thin edges of the heads of the pin willproject above the surrounding surface of the side walls of the needle,thus forming a bur or roughness which will catch the fiber of the yarn.Still another'way in which needles have been constructed isto providethe side walls of the needles with the usual countersinks into which theends of the pivot-pins are headed or spread, as usual. The headed endsof the pivot-pins and a portion of the surrounding side walls of theneedles have then been dressed off by a revolving tool to formcountersinks, so that the ends of the pivot-pins are carried below thesurface of the side walls of the needle. It has been found in practice,however, that a revolving tool will leave a rough edge surrounding thecountersink, and such rough edge is sufficient to catch and pull thefine fibers of delicate yarns, thereby unfittin g a needle constructedas above described for many classes of work. Another disadvantage inthis form of needle is that in forming the countersinks by dressing ofior removing the portion of the needlebody the said body is therebyweakened.

It is the object of my invention to provide a novel form ofknitting-machine needle which will do away with all of the disadvantagesabove named and which at the same time will be so constructed that thereis no bur or other roughness which can engage and pull the fiber of theyarn. Accordingly I provide my needle-body and latch with the usualdrilled hole, in which the usual pivot-pin of suitable lengthis'inserted, and after the pivotpin has been put in place it isshortened either by cutting or grinding oif or hammering down the endsof the pin until itis of a length subthereof, the hole in the latchbeing enough larger than the upset pivot-pin to leave the latch free toturn on the pivot-pin. This operation of the punches compresses themateterial of the needle-body to forma depression in each side of theneedle and at the same time shortens or compresses the ends of thepivot-pin and carries the said ends below the surface of the surroundingside walls of the needle, the ends of the pivot-pin constituting andlying substantially flush with or a little below the bottoms of thedepressions.

The operation of shortening the pivot-pin in the body of the needleoperates to swell the same to thereby completely fill the hole in thebody of the needle, whereby the pivot-pin is firmly held in place and atthe same time the ends of the pivot are carried below the surroundingside walls of the needle, a feature which experience has proved isnecessary in this class of devices. Moreover, by forming the depressionsby compression instead of by removing a part of the metal to form usualcountersinks it will be seen that the full original strength of theneedle-body is preserved at the point where the said body is weakest andis subjected to the most strain.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a knitting-machineneedle embody ing my invention. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are transversesections through the needle at the pivotpin, said figures showing theneedle in different stages of completion. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are alsotransverse sections of the needle at the pivot-pin, showing aslightly-modified form of needle in its different stages of contruction;and Fig. 8 is a side view of a portion of the completed needle.

The body 3 of the needle may be of any usual or suitable constructionand has pivoted in a slot in the end thereof the usual latch 41:.

To obtain a needle which has no roughness or bur at the head of thepivot, I construct the needle as follows: The body 3 is provided withthe usual hole drilled therein for the reception of the pivot-pin 5,said pivot-pin passing throughthe body of the needle and through thehole or eye 6 in the end of the latch 4, the hole or eye 6 beingsomewhat larger than the hole in the body of the needle, as shown in thedrawings. After the pivot-pin, which is longer than the width of thebody of the needle, is inserted through the body of the needle and theeye 6 of the latch, as shown in Fig. 2, the said pivot-pin is shortenedin any suitable way until the ends thereof stand substantially flushwith the side walls of the needle, as shown in Fig. 3. The pivot-pin maybe shortened in any suitable way, and in the form shown in Figs. 2 to 4the same would preferably be either cut off or removed by a grindingprocess until the ends of the pivot came flush with the side walls ofthe needle. Thereafter I subject the pivot-pin in the condition of Fig.3 to the action of two suitable dies or punches 7 8, having convex facesand being preferably slightly larger in diameter than the pivot-pin. Asthese punches or dies approach each other they act upon the ends of thepivot-pin and also upon a portion of the body of the needle immediatelysurrounding the ends of the pivot-pin, the said punches depressing thewalls of the needle-body, as at 9, and at the same time shortening andenlarging the pivot-pin 5, whereby the end portions thereof are made tocompletely fill the aperture or hole in the side walls of the needle andthe ends thereof are in position to form the bottoms of the depressions9, as seen in Fig. 4. At the same time this shortening process of thepivot-pin enlarges the central portion thereof, as at 10, to fill theaperture or eye 6 in the latch 4;, as illustrated. In this modificationthe end portions of the pivotpin are of substantially uniform diameterand have no heads thereon; but by my process of construction the saidpivot-pin is made to fit the holes in the needle-body so tightly thatthe said pivot-pin cannot become loosened. Furthermore, none of themetal of the needlebody is removed in making the depressions, andtherefore the full strength of the said body is preserved at its weakestpoint.

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show a slightly different way of arriving atsubstantially the same result, and in this case the side walls of theneedle are provided with slight countersinks 19, which are so small asnot to appreciably affect the strength of the needle. The pivotpin 5 ofa suitable length is inserted in the body of the needle, as usual and asshown in Fig. 5, and the said pivot-pin is shortened until the endsthereof are substantially flush with the side walls of the needle, asshown in Fig. 6. This shortening of the pivot-pin may be accomplished ina variety of ways; but preferably the ends of said pin are spread toform small heads 20, which fill the countersinks 19 and comesubstantially flush with the side walls of the needle. Thereafter theneedle is placed between suitable dies 7 8, which, as above described,have convex spherical ends and which are slightly larger in diameterthan the small heads 20 on theends of the pivot-pins. The dies form bycompression the depressions 9 in the side walls of the needle, the actof making the depressions serving to shorten the pivot lengthwise bycompressionand swell or bulge the same centrally thereof, as at 10, asabove described. In this modification of myinvention the countersinks 19and the small heads 20 on the pivot-pins are carried by compressionbelow the surrounding side walls of the needle and the ends of thepivot-pins come substantially flush with and form the bottoms of thedepressions 9.

Referring to Fig. 8, it will be seen that since the dies are circular incross-section the depressions 9 9 will be circular, whereby the ends ofthe pivot-pin are concentric with the said depressions and the materialin the side walls of the needle adjacent the ends of the pivot-pin isuniformly compressed.

Two important and necessary features in knitting-machine-needleconstruction are inherent in both of the above forms. In the firstplace, the ends of the pivots, whether headed or not, are carried belowthe surrounding side walls of the needles, and this is done in such away as to leave no bur or other roughness which can catch or pull thefiber of even the most delicate yarn, and, in the second place, theformation of the depressions is not accompanied by any removing of themetal of the needle and a consequent weakening of the needle at the veryplace Where it should be the strongest.

Another advantage which I would call attention to is that by having thepivot of a length substantially equal to the width of the needle-bodyprior to the action of the dies the pivot-pin is maintained in itscentral position in the body of the needle, a result which is verydifficult of accomplishment where the pivot-pin before it is shortenedor compressed is shorter than the width of th needle-body.

I desire to state that various changes may be made in the structure ofthe device withoutdeparting from the invention as expressed in theaccompanying claims.

This application is a continuation of and has been filed to take theplace of my former application, Serial No. 737,407, filed November 8,1899.

i Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1. A knitting-machine needle comprising a body having a latch mounted ona pivot-pin, the'said pivot-pin and the side walls of the body adjacentthe ends of the pin being compressed to form depressions, the compressedends of the pins coinciding with the bottom of the said depressions. e

2. A knitting-machine needle comprising a body, a latch and a pivot-pinin said body upon which said latch is loosely'mounted, the side walls ofthe body adjacent the ends of thepins being compressed to formdepressions, the ends of the pins being flush with and forming a portionof the bottoms of the said depressions.

3. A knitting-machine needle comprising a body, a latch, and a pivot-pinin said body upon which said latch is loosely mounted, the outer sidewalls of said body having that portion which surrounds and is concentricwith the ends of the pivot-pin compressed to form depressions, thepivot-pin also being compressed longitudinally thereof and the ends ofsaid pin when compressed being flush with and forming a portion of thebottom of the ARTHUR OURRIER.

Witnesses:

A. B. DODGE, ETHEL M. TUFTS.

